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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23905876">A Keybearers Everyday Life with Monster Girls</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnioSonofGoku/pseuds/OnioSonofGoku'>OnioSonofGoku</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts, モンスター娘のいる日常 | Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Harem, High School, Keyblade Wielder Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), School, Slice of Life, Sora-centric (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:29:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23905876</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnioSonofGoku/pseuds/OnioSonofGoku</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on DrWriter21's 'Blank Slate'. After the battle with Xehanort and loss of Kairi, Sora finds himself once more looking for her. The difference this time is he's arrested and brought to Ms. Smith who places him in the care of Kimihito.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kimihito Kurusu/Other(s), Sora/Original Character(s), Sora/Suu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A new start</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sora sighed as he fell through the slipstream of light. He had been to numerous worlds by this point, and yet, he hadn’t found anything about Kairi. It was like he was back at the beginning of his journey, only now he was alone. He hated being alone. Even though he knew his friends were with him in his heart and he made a lot of friends in each world he went to, he had no one to talk to while he was traveling.<br/>
He missed Donald and Goofy, but he stayed true to his word. This was his fight and his journey. And he had to take it alone. But that didn’t mean he had to enjoy it. He felt the gravity of the tunnel increase, signaling he was coming to the end of his trip to the next world. He swung his feet down and bent his knees to land as gently as possible. He felt his feet touch down on something hard. He recognized it as blacktop. Maybe he was landing on an airstrip.<br/>
As the tunnel faded, Sora looked around. He was on a bridge, not as large as the one in San Fransokyo, but close. He was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of a car horn. He turned around and was nearly blinded by it’s headlights. He leaped and flipped over the car, landing on the one behind it, hopping from car to car before landing on the sidewalk.<br/>
“Well. That was… fun.” Sora started to walk down the sidewalk, ignoring the shouting voices of the drivers, until he head a siren and saw the flash of blue light. “Oh, come on.”<br/>
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing, kid?! Somebody could have hit you!” The officer screamed as he got out of his squad car.<br/>
“Uh, sorry, I, uh-”<br/>
“Are you drunk or something?” The cop said, looking at him oddly.<br/>
“What?! No! I’m not even old enough to drink!”<br/>
“Then what the hell were you doing in the street?!” Sora opened his mouth to answer, but he froze. How do you answer something like that without upsetting the balance? “Okay, you know what? We can ask more questions at the station.” the cop said as he walked behind the Keyslinger, the sound of his cuffs being pulled from his belt alerting Sora to what was happening.<br/>
“What? Are you serious?! I didn’t hurt anyone!” He shouted as his hands were cuffed.<br/>
“Yeah, but you could have, son. Come on.” Sora growled a bit as he was pushed to the cruiser, settling into the back with a huff. He leaned back and stared at the roof of the car. Sad thing was, this wasn’t the first time he’s been in the back of a squad car. He and Riku had been picked up a couple times for starting fights at school. They never actually started the fights, but they were always fingered as the ones that did.<br/>
“This is just great.”<br/>
“Sounds like you’ve done this before.”<br/>
“... Once or twice.” 4 times. But who’s counting?<br/>
…<br/>
Sora slammed his head into the wall of his cell. He’d spent the night at the detention center when all he could tell them was his name. He could deal with the questioning, the taking his belongings he could deal with. Even the jerk at lunch he laid out. He could handle all of it, but the boredom. Good lord, the boredom! He read a book to pass the time. It wasn’t even a good book!<br/>
“Sora.” He turned to the cell door. “Someone’s here to talk to you.”<br/>
The door opened and a woman stepped in. She was reasonably tall, then again, Sora was short. Or about average, considering Riku was 6’ tall by the time he was fifteen, but regardless, she was taller than him. She had long, dark hair, dark eyes hidden behind sunglasses and a well proportioned body.<br/>
She smiled softly at the boy, sitting on his cot. “Sora, my name is Ms. Smith. Do you know what I do?”<br/>
“Are you a Youth Reformation Officer? I’ve talked to plenty by this point. I haven’t done anything wrong.” Sora said as he sat on his toilet.<br/>
Smith chuckled and opened a file, showing him a picture of the boy he punched. Sora looked away. “A broken nose, fractured jaw, and a severely damaged masseter muscle. Now, the broken nose and jaw, I could buy, but you damaged the muscle holding it all together to the point it was almost like wet paper. With a single hit. And, there’s the fact that he hit you in the back of the head with a metal tray after you initially ignored him. And you don’t even have a bump. What you looking away tells me is that you aren’t proud of how badly you hurt him.”<br/>
“No, I’m not. Okay? That what you wanted to hear? Can we go now?” He asked impatiently.<br/>
“Got somewhere you need to be, Sora? You’re awfully impatient, moreso than other teenagers. Tell me. How old are you? 14, 15?”<br/>
“... 16 yesterday.”<br/>
“16? I see. And where do you come from?”<br/>
Sora sighed a bit. “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”<br/>
She leaned closer to him. “Try me.”<br/>
He leaned in as well. “I can’t.” Smith sighed and leaned back. “Look, I’m sorry. There’s more going on here than you know.”<br/>
“Sora, I’m going to ask you one more question. You leaped over two cars, landed on a sidewalk at least ten feet away in a sheer drop that should have at least broken one bone, then severely damaged another boy after taking a blow to the head with a blow that would have knocked out a professional fighter.”<br/>
“Is there a question in there?”<br/>
Smith sighed again. “What are you, Sora? What species of Liminal are you? Because a human certainly couldn’t do what you did.”<br/>
Sora smiled and put his arms behind his head, leaning back. “And what if I said that I’m just really strong?” Smith just smiled. “Not buying it?” She shook her head. “Yeah, didn’t think so. Look, I’m human. My blood test should say as such. I don’t even know what a Liminal is.”<br/>
“You don’t?”<br/>
“No.”<br/>
“You don’t know anything about the Extra-Species Exchange Program?”<br/>
“The what?”<br/>
Smith sighed a bit. “Sora, your name is Japanese. You should at least know where you are.”<br/>
“Japanese? My mother named me Sora. It’s the name of the sky in her native language. I’ve never heard of Japanese.”<br/>
“Where do you come from, Sora? If you don’t tell me now, you will be spending a very long time here.”<br/>
Sora sighed a bit and leaned against the wall. “You asked me if I had somewhere to be. No. I don’t. I’m looking for someone I love very dearly. She was hurt and taken from me and our friends.” This got Smith’s attention. “Her name is Kairi. She has… dark red hair. Bright, blue eyes. She’s short. Even shorter than I am. But she can be pretty mean when she needs to be.” This made the woman smile. Then Sora started to tear up and sniffle. “… I-I uh, I made her a promise. I told her I’d keep her safe. And if I couldn’t, that I would bring her home. I’m here because my heart led me here to find her. So, whether you let me out or you don’t, I’m leaving and I am going to find my friend and take her home.”<br/>
Smith just stared at the boy for a moment. This was sounding more and more like Liminal testing on kids and trafficking. Two things she’d seen and abhorred. This boy had obviously suffered greatly. “The guards said you were having nightmares last night. Were they about Kairi?” Sora was quiet. He didn’t nod, shake his head, anything. Smith sighed again. “Sora, I don’t know what you are. What you’re capable of. But, I do know one thing. I’ve seen men with the look you have when you talk about your friend. Do you know what it’s called?” Still nothing. “Survivors guilt. What happened to her, Sora?”<br/>
He still said nothing. “You won’t tell me, fine. I can guess. Your friend and you had to fight someone. You were the better fighter of the two or she was taken hostage.”<br/>
“Stop.”<br/>
“She got hurt and you couldn’t save her. You did what you could when you could, but you couldn’t help her when she needed it most.”<br/>
“I said stop.”<br/>
“Now, you’re here, looking for her to justify to yourself why you survived and she didn’t.”<br/>
“I SAID STOP!” Sora roared, inadvertently ripping the sink from the wall, letting it crash to the floor. Water sprayed out from the busted pipe. Smith wasn’t impressed. “Sorry.”<br/>
Someone knocked on the door. Sora recognized the voice as the warden. “Smith, you okay?!”<br/>
“I’m fine. Continue on, Warden.” Sora was breathing heavily, almost panting. “Am I right? You wouldn’t have gotten so angry if I wasn’t.”<br/>
“You’re wrong. I know. I know in my heart she’s alive somewhere. I will find her. Whatever it takes. However long it takes.”<br/>
“Are you looking for her sake or yours?” Sora was quiet again. “Sora, I want to help you. I really do, believe it or not. But I can’t do that if I don’t know anything.”<br/>
“I told you all I’m going to.”<br/>
They stared at each other for a bit before Smith stood up. “Well, I’ve got enough of a description of her from you to put out an APB. I’ll have my people look into it, I promise. For now, you’ve shown both signs of inhuman capability and moments of mental distress. I will be having you released into my custody until I can find you a host home.”<br/>
“What?”<br/>
Smith knelt in front of Sora and smiled much more genuinely than she had before. “Sora. Please trust me to help you. Please.”<br/>
The boy just stared at her for a moment before sighing and nodding. “Okay. I’ll trust you.”<br/>
Smith smiled much more than before. “Good. Then get up. Let’s get you to your host. I already have someone in mind. And do me a favor? Keep him and his housemates safe, okay? You’ll also be expected to attend school.”<br/>
Sora groaned loudly. “Do I have to?”<br/>
“Yes, you do.” The boy slumped more. “Oh, don’t be a baby.” She knocked on the door and it opened. “I’ll be taking Sora with me, Warden. I trust that won’t be an issue.” It was more an order than a statement, one the large older man didn’t seem to like much, but he stepped aside as the two walked out, both snickering at the profanity being hurled at them as he saw what Sora did. Smith knew that would be a lot of paperwork for her, but she didn’t care. Not this time at least. Guy was a prick.<br/>
Smith pulled out her phone as Sora had his stuff returned to him, speed dialing her favorite host.<br/>
“Darling? It’s Smith. I think I have another housemate for you.”<br/>
…<br/>
Sora sighed as he sat on the couch of the house he’d be staying in from here on. Or at least if his ‘host’ agreed. The only thing Smith told him about the man was that his name was Kimihito, he had three young female Liminals living with him, and he was a nice guy that could cook. Sora could cook, pretty damn well too, by this point. Little Chef hadn’t just used him as a utensil, he’d also taught the Keyslinger how to cook if he needed to.<br/>
Now, the day after that call, he and Smith sat at the house, waiting for the host to return. He’d left a note saying he’d stepped out to get groceries. The note said the girls were sleeping and to be careful not to wake them.<br/>
“Darling, are you downstairs? Maybe you’d like to join me for a bath~?” A female voice said from upstairs. It made Sora raise a brow.<br/>
“That would be Miia. Darling isn’t here, Miia! He went to town for groceries!” Smith called out.<br/>
“... Ms. Smith? What are you… Oh, no, no, no! NOT ANOTHER RIVAL!” Sora was all the more perplexed by that, listening to the distinct sound of something slithering quickly towards them. He wondered for a moment if he should conjure the Keyblade, but this idea was forgotten when he saw the source of the voice and the slithering.<br/>
It was a… woman, but with a snake tail. She had long red hair, the same color as her scales and bright amber eyes. Her eyes unsettled him a bit as they were the same color as the eyes of the members of the Organization.<br/>
But, despite that, he found her drop dead gorgeous, even with the odd tail. And she was staring at him.<br/>
“Uh, I thought you had another housemate for us. Who’s this boy?”<br/>
“Your new housemate.”<br/>
Sora waved awkwardly. “Hi. I’m Sora.”<br/>
Miia just stared for a moment before- “Awwww!!! He’s so cute!” She wrapped the boy up in her tail and hugged him tight much faster than either of them had anticipated. He found his face pushed between the girls boobs to the point he could only look up at her. “Smith, I thought you’d brought another girl in the house for me to contend with, but Sora-kun is so cute!”<br/>
“And he needs to breathe, Miia.” Smith said. Miia looked down at the now blue boy, letting him go. Sora took a large gulp of air before falling over.<br/>
“Freedom!” Smith chuckled at the cheering boy.<br/>
“Miia, dear, why not go let the other girls know you have a guest and let Sora catch his breath?” She suggested. Miia nodded excitedly before slithering upstairs. Smith looked down at the boy, smirking. “So, how was meeting your first Lamia, Sora?”<br/>
“She’s… a Lamia?”<br/>
“That’s right. Passionate snake women of the desert tribes. Miia was the first girl Kimihito took in. Originally, he wasn’t even supposed to be a host, but he still took her in and treated her earnestly and kindly. Just like with the other two. Ah, here they are.” Sora vaulted to his feet as two more unique looking women came downstairs. “Sora, meet Papi the Harpy,” Smith said as a yawning bird girl with blue hair and wings for arms came downstairs. “And Centorea the Centaur.” The next was a horse woman with long blonde hair, blue eyes and… Oh god, why are her boobs the size of my head!?<br/>
“Huh? Is someone new here?”<br/>
“Yes, Papi, it would seem that Mrs. Smith has brought another Liminal among us.” Centorea said, stepping forward towards the boy.<br/>
“He’s adorable, isn’t he? Ooh, I just wanna hug him and never let go unless it’s Darling asking!” Miia said, making Sora inch a bit away from her.<br/>
“Welcome, Sora. I am Centorea, proud emissary of the Centaur Race.” She extended a hand to him, which he shook after a moment.<br/>
“Nice to meetcha! I’m Sora. I’m… not totally sure what I am, to be honest. I think I’m half human on my father’s side.” It was a cover story Smith had him rehearse with her on their way to the house.<br/>
“Half-human? How odd that you’d resemble the recessive side of the genetic pool.” Centorea said, noticing that his hand was heavily calloused. “Your hand. It’s the hand of one trained in the art of swordplay. Are you swordsman?”<br/>
“Something like that, yeah.” Sora said, smiling brightly and putting his arms behind his head. He yelped and ducked as Papi flew over his head, now fully awake.<br/>
“Hi there! Papi is my name! Papi is a Harpy! A Harpy is what Papi is! Your name is Sora!? Hey, hey, wanna play a game!? Hubby has lots of really fun games to play!”<br/>
“Well, you’re energetic, huh?” Sora laughed as Papi’s talons lifted and tossed his hood over his head. “Hey! Uh, sure. I’ll play a game with-”<br/>
RRRRRRrumble….<br/>
“You. But it sounds like you guys are hungry.”<br/>
Centorea blushed lightly. “Yes, it is shameful to say, but normally my Master has breakfast ready by now. Is he not here?”<br/>
“Darling stepped out to do some shopping, Centorea. But, I’m sure Sora would be happy to cook for you if you asked.” Smith said with a smirk. “He bragged on his way here about his training under a world-class French chef.”<br/>
Sora blushed a bit at that. “W-well, I don’t know about ‘world-class’, but they’re the best cook I know. But, sure, if you’re all hungry, I can whip something up.”<br/>
“That would be so nice of you!” Miia said, hugging the boy again. “You’re such a sweetheart! Darling will love having you around!”<br/>
“Yes, I’m sure he will, now, Miia, let the boy go so he can cook.” Miia looked at the blue faced boy again and let him go.<br/>
Like before, he sucked in a deep breath. “You do this a lot, huh?” He fell over after that. Was he going to survive this?!<br/>
…<br/>
Kimihito hummed a bit as he walked to the front door of his home, pulling out his key ring. He saw from the black car in front of the gate that Smith was already there, probably with his new charge. When Smith told him about the kid, he wasn’t too sure he should be taking in a teenager, but Smith assured him that he was a good kid, that he just had some issues to work through.<br/>
He didn’t mind opening his home a bit more, but now he had to go shopping for more food. He was sure the kid probably hadn’t had a decent meal in the past couple of days, considering Smith said he was being brought from the detention center.<br/>
He stopped short when he smelled something delicious. Was someone cooking? He stepped into the house. “Girls, I’m back! Did Smith come by?”<br/>
Kimihito’s suspicions were confirmed when Papi poked her head around the corner with a piece of bacon hanging from her mouth. “Hubby!” She ate her bacon and flew over to the startled human. “Hubby! The Terminator is in the kitchen and Sora made breakfast! It was almost as good as yours!”<br/>
“Sora? And it’s Coordinator, Papi.” Kimihito looked up to see Centorea poking her blushing head around the corner. The human started to make his way to them, confused as to why Cerea looked so defeated.<br/>
“Forgive me, Master. I must admit my folly. I did not believe it possible, but there is another that can cook with your skill. Forgive your unfaithful servant.” She said, bowing her head.<br/>
Kimihito peeked around her to see a boy, about fifteen or sixteen with spiky brown hair flipping pancakes in one pan, stirring another pan of what looked like sausage, potato, and egg hash, while maintaining a pan of bacon. Miia was sitting at the table with Smith, enjoying a big plate of the hash and pancakes with a few pieces of bacon. Smith was sipping on a fresh cup of coffee when she noticed Kimihito. “Oh, welcome home, Darling.”<br/>
Miia’s head snapped up to look at the man. “Darling!” She blushed and looked from the cooking Sora to her host. “I, uh…” The she started crying. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, I was just so hungry and Sora-kun is such a good cook!”<br/>
“Yeah, yeah, Sora’s really good!” Papi said as she floated around them. “He also said he’d play games with Papi after he was done!”<br/>
“Uh…” Kimihito started with.<br/>
“You’re confused too, huh? You live here, so if you’re confused, at least I don’t have to feel bad.” The boy shut off the fires on the stove, moving the food to the last plate he had set out. He smiled and wiped his hands on his shorts before offering one to Kimihito. “I’m Sora, nice to meetcha!”<br/>
Kimihito smiled and took his hand, shaking it gently. “Nice to meet you, Sora, I’m Kimihito. I see you’ve met the girls. Thanks for making breakfast.”<br/>
“Anytime. I like cooking. Though I did have to make a Caesar Salad for Centorea. I’ve never done that before, but it was fun.”<br/>
Miia sniffled a bit as she watched the men talk to each other, making them both look at her. “You’re not mad we had someone else cook for us?”<br/>
Kimihito chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “Not at all! It’s kinda nice knowing my morning is a lot more freed up. I can set our day up better this way.”<br/>
Miia’s bottom lip trembled before she jumped into Kimihito’s arms. “I love you, Darling!”<br/>
“Miia! Don’t accost Master when you’re in kitchen!” Cerea screamed.<br/>
“Miia, careful!” Kimihito said as he caught the excited Lamia as best he could. He saw Miia’s tail sail towards Sora’s head, the boy yelping ducking under it. But, while that was a bit scary, that wasn’t what scared Kimihito. “Miia, your tail!”<br/>
“Kyaa!” She turned on a dime to see Sora grasping the end of her tail to keep it from hitting the stove. “S-Sora, no, only Darling can grab my tail!”<br/>
“Would you rather I let you get burnt?” He released her tail, making her flush and avert her eyes for a moment.<br/>
“N-no… Thank you.”<br/>
“Nice reflexes, Sweetheart. You’re pretty quick on your feet.” Smith said as she sipped her coffee. She did have to admit. The kid knew how to work in a kitchen. This was a really good cup of coffee.<br/>
“Uh, thanks. Kinda comes with the territory.” Sora said bashfully. He yelped as his hood was pulled on again. “H-hey, what the-?!”<br/>
“Sora, you said you’d play with me!” Papi said as she pulled the boy into the living room.<br/>
“Whoa! Okay, okay! What do you wanna play?” He said with a laugh.<br/>
“Miia, Cerea, why don’t you go and play with them while I talk to Mrs. Smith? I’m sure there’s some things I need to sort through to finish up the paperwork for Sora.”<br/>
Miia’s face lit up. “So he’s staying?!”<br/>
“He’s staying.”<br/>
“Yay! I’ve always wanted a little brother to spoil!” Miia cried as she slithered to the living room. Centorea, while not unhappy, was less enthusiastic, but she followed all the same.<br/>
Kimihito watched them until he was sure they were out of ear shot, turning to Smith. “Okay, so you said there some issues with Sora?”<br/>
She nodded a bit. “I interviewed him in the Detention Center. He shows early signs of Survivor’s Guilt and PTSD. I don’t know what that boy has been through, but it was traumatic, to say the least.” She smiled as she heard everyone laughing in the next room. “He’s got a good heart. He got into a fight at the Detention Center with another boy and hurt him pretty badly. He’s very heroic, but I think that something happened to a friend of his. He said he’s looking for a girl named Kairi. I’m going to have my people look into it, but honestly…”<br/>
“You think his friend is dead and he can’t accept it?”<br/>
“That’s a definite possibility. He’s been through a lot, that much is obvious. His physical exams show that he’s inhumanly strong, his reflexes, as you saw, are way beyond human ability and he almost radiates a strange energy that sensors can’t pin down. There aren’t many Liminals that can use magic anymore.<br/>
If he is one and something sets him off, you could have a living nuclear warhead in your hands. That’s why I want you to look after him. If the wrong people get a hold of him and learn how to manipulate and control him for their means, the damage done could be worse than anything we’ve seen.”<br/>
“You’re saying that kid is a walking WMD? I can’t believe that, he’s just a teenager. I mean, listen to them in there.”<br/>
“Hey, Papi, that’s cheating!” Miia cried.<br/>
“No it isn’t!”<br/>
“Um, which button is accelerate again?” Sora asked.<br/>
“Up, Sora.” Cerea answered.<br/>
“You’re saying someone that doesn’t even know how to play Mario Kart could do that much damage? Come on, Smith, you’re being paranoid.”<br/>
She sighed a bit, pulling the neckline of her suit down. She had a very deeply bruised patch of skin around her neck in the shape of a hand. “Sora did this this morning when I woke him up. He was having a nightmare and he attacked me on reflex. Just… keep an eye on him, please? He’s a good kid, I don’t want see him get hurt. Oh! And I’ve enrolled him at a local school. He starts next week, so I’ve left a list of supplies he’ll need. You’ll be reimbursed for all of it.”<br/>
Kimihito was shocked to say the least, just staring at the ugly bruise. “I’ll add it to the list. We can make a day of it. Besides, your contractors still need to finish his room.”<br/>
Smith nodded and stood up, putting her bag over her shoulder. “Well, I’ll send you the last bit of paperwork in a bit. Until then, he’s already signed all the papers to be placed in your home. I had him sign it under your name, Kurusu, just to make my life a bit easier.”<br/>
“Of course. I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow when you come to mooch again.”<br/>
“Oh, you say that like you hate it.” She said before walking into the living room. “Sora, I’m leaving.”<br/>
The brunette looked up from the game. “Uh, girls, why don’t you continue without me? I wanna say bye to Mrs. Smith.”<br/>
Papi groaned loudly, but then she giggled when Sora pat her head. After that, he got up from his spot and followed Smith to the door. “Sorry about that. You didn’t need to walk me out, you know?”<br/>
“Eh, I was losing anyway.”<br/>
“I saw. How is it possible that they all lapped you three times each?”<br/>
“I don’t know. I hit a giant ball with teeth and then everything turned into a blur of mediocrity.” That made Smith laugh as Sora opened the door for her, following her out to the car. “Hey, I’m… I’m really sorry about this morning. I could heal that if you want.”<br/>
“Thank you for the apology, but it’s okay. Though the healing would be nice. It’s pretty tender.” He smiled and lifted a hand, a green light shining from his palm. Smith sighed gently as she felt the pain vanish. “So, you can use magic.”<br/>
“Yeah, you didn’t think so?”<br/>
“Part of me was skeptical.” She leaned in to whisper. “Try and keep that on the downlow. Liminals with magic are considered very dangerous.”<br/>
“I told you, I’m not a Liminal.”<br/>
“I know, but nobody else does. Just between us, okay?” Sora nodded, but he still looked conflicted. Smith gently cupped his cheek, like a mother comforting her son. “Oh, Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I know this isn’t how you wanted to do it, but this is just how this world works. Let me handle the search for Kairi. You handle your life. And maybe you’ll have some stories for her the next time you see her.”<br/>
Sora smiled at that as Smith wiped away the one tear that ran down his cheek, hugging the boy back as he leaned into her. It broke her heart to see him so sad and she’d only known him for a day and a half. She pulled away, smiling. “You have my number if you need to talk. Call me anytime, okay? I’ll have to have you over at some point to meet MON. Tio will adore you.”<br/>
“Will I get the Miia treatment? Because I’m not too into the idea of being snapped in two.”<br/>
“Aww, you’ll break her heart though.” He smiled at that, hugging Smith one more time.<br/>
“Thanks.”<br/>
She pat his head gently. “Okay, go on in. I’m sure Darling is waiting to take you to the mall for your school supplies.” He groaned again, turning slowly back to the house. “Oh, stop whining. It won’t be that bad. And give Riku a call. I’m sure he’s worried.” With that, the coordinator got into her car, pulling the door closed behind before watching the boy return to the house. Even after just a day with him, she saw how special he was. She knew this would be a good place for him.</p>
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<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Shopping Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sora whistled as he looked around the mall. It was huge! “Have you never seen a mall, Sora?” Miia asked him.<br/>“Not really. My island had a few shops, but the biggest one was like the size of Kimihito’s house. This… This is insanity. I could fit everyone back home in here.”<br/>“No way! The mall is so much fun! You’ve totally been missing out, island boy! Come on, I’ll show you!” And the next thing he knew, he was being dragged away by the excited Lamia.<br/>“Miia, slow down!” Kimihito shouted as the group ran after the shopping addicted Lamia and the boy she was dragging behind her.<br/>“Well, this is an auspicious start to our day.” Cerea said as they tried to keep pace. Papi was flying over the group, chattering excitedly to Sora about all the fun things they could do at the mall. Many people stared at the odd group, mostly at the fact that a Lamia was dragging a teenage boy behind her, but since Sora wasn’t struggling, they mostly kept their distance.<br/>“How curious. The island thou grew up on must have been rather small to not have a mall of some kind.” Cerea said.<br/>“Less than 300 people. That tell you anything?”<br/>“Thou came from a very small village.”<br/>“Yep. And everyone knows you. Doesn’t exactly end well when the local rich kids keep starting fights you end up finishing, then getting fingered as the bad guys. After the last time we got picked up, my friend Riku’s mother suggested it was time we be taken to the interior of the island to the sword master that lived there for training. A lot of men and women had trained under him and came back stronger for it. Me and Riku had always played around with practice swords and stuff, but we were never serious about it until then.<br/>The walk to get to him was enough of a trial. It was rough. The village was mostly around the exterior of the island, the interior was almost all jungle. It took me and Riku three days to get there.”<br/>“They just allowed two children to make a dangerous journey like that alone?” The centaur asked in awe. Their walk had slowed a fair bit as the rest of the party listened to the story.<br/>“It was the tradition. Progressive or not, we had to make the journey alone. We were allowed to make the journey together because the Master had said enough children had been lost in those woods coming to him. Me and Riku met up with him at a stream about a day’s walk from his home. We didn’t realize it was him and he didn’t tell us. But he did offer us a bit of advice and showed us a trick to fishing in a stream so we could feed ourselves. We ate like kings that night. The next day, we found his home.<br/>Originally, it was his wife that welcomed us, tested us to see how resolved we were to the path we were walking. Bianca was… stronger than anyone we’d ever fought. She made me and Riku look like punks, but she was very kind to us afterwards. She patched us up for when Master Abel returned. That’s when the real hell began. We trained with him for almost two years straight. We got letters every week when Bianca went to town from our mothers and Riku’s dad. They missed us. We weren’t allowed to write back though.”<br/>“Why? Wouldn’t your mothers have liked to hear from you?” Kimihito asked.<br/>“Tradition. It was a very big thing back on the Islands.”<br/>“What of thine father, Sora?” Centorea inquired.<br/>Sora’s expression fell. It was odd to see him with such a crestfallen expression, especially since he was still being dragged by a snake girl. “Dad died right after my sixth birthday. He was a fisherman and… there was a storm. He got caught in it. Never came back.”<br/>Cerea’s eyes widened a bit. Papi’s eyes watered, as did Miia’s. “I’m sorry. I did not realize-”<br/>“It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean any harm. We just met, you wouldn’t have known.” He said with a soft smile. “Um, Miia, I can walk, you know?”<br/>“Huh? Oh! Sorry, Sora.” The lamia released the boy, making him yelp as he fell flat on his back. “Sorry!”<br/>“You’re good.” He jumped back to his feet, landing with a huff. He got a bit of applause from the people around him. He bowed a bit before he had an idea. “Hey, you guys wanna see something Master Abel taught me?” They looked at him oddly before he stepped out to the middle of the floor. He whistled loudly, getting everyone’s attention. Once he had it, he jumped backwards into the air, landing on his hands before spinning and curling up onto his back. The gathering crowd was loving it, especially when he pushed back up onto one hand. He dropped down onto his shoulders, windmilling around for a few seconds before finishing in a laid out position, his head propped on his hand.<br/>The crowd cheered and applauded. He got to his feet and bowed a few times before returning to his group. “Your master taught you that?” Kimihito asked in wonder.<br/>“Well, not that specifically. He did drill me on acrobatic evasion techniques that I rarely ever used in a fight. I just kinda turned them into dancing. Had to make money someway after I left home and wasn’t fighting.” This made everyone laugh, even Cerea. Papi was absolutely going off the wall, asking Sora how he did all that. He told her he’d show her again sometime if she wanted.<br/>“Hey, hey, Sora, did Masterbell ever teach you how to do a front flip?!” She asked avidly.<br/>“Uh, I think you mean Master Abel, and yes, he did, Papi.” Just to prove a point, Sora jumped into the air, almost ten feet above them and gave a triple flip before landing. They all clapped again with Papi just laughing and hanging off Sora’s shoulders now. <br/>“Oh! I was gonna take you clothes shopping! Come on, let’s go!”<br/>“Wait, Miia! Aahhh!” And he was gone, in the clutches of the shopping addict known as Miia.<br/>He was dragged from shop to shop, listening to what Miia thought would look good on him. She loved it because he had almost no idea about fashion and he wouldn’t argue as she dressed him up. “And now I know why dogs bite people.” was his comment on 22nd outfit she put him in.<br/>It looked good, if he were honest. It was an outfit a bit like the one he’d met them in. A blue hoody, black jean shorts, and a short sleeve t-shirt. He had on a ridged black and white belt and, as always, his Crown Piece necklace.<br/>When Miia finally found something that took her mind off Sora, a lingerie shop she dragged Kimihito into, Sora was able to convince Cerea and Papi to go with. It wasn’t hard and it gave him some alone time. He decided he’d sit on the fountain and watch the people as they mingled. This was… massively different from his little island village. Even other worlds he’d been to. San Fransokyo was the closest to compare it to, but he didn’t really get to explore it. He was having some mild culture shock.<br/>“L-leave me alone!”<br/>“Aww, look at that. She’s stuttering.” Sora looked up to see what was going on. “Maybe if you weren’t so dumb, you wouldn’t need to keep coming to buy supplies, huh?”<br/>A group of kids were surrounding a girl, a Liminal by the looks of her. She had snow white hair/fur on her head, around her paw-like hands and her legs. She was wearing a tube top that didn’t do much to cover her modesty, but that was probably because of her furred limbs rather than actual fashion, with a pair of dark jean shorts that should have been longer on her, but her well developed hips and he was guessing her rump made them almost into booty shorts. Her skin was darker than a tan could get it. If Sora were honest, she was really cute.<br/>But he didn’t like the fact that she looked just about ready to burst into tears. He saw school supplies on the floor where she was kneeling, trying to pick them up, but was constantly being stopped by the boys as the girls laughed.<br/>“Come on, freak, it’s not like you need them anyway. You shouldn’t even be here, it’s not like anyone wants you around.” one girl said as the Liminal girl sniffled and closed her eyes.<br/>“Yeah, besides, I don’t wanna be sharing a classroom with you. I mean, that nasty ass fur of yours must reek.” another smarted off with.<br/>“It does not! I shower everyday!” she cried, tears running down her cheeks.<br/>“Aww, did we make the little beastie cry?” A boy said as he snatched up a pencil she had been reaching for, breaking it in two.<br/>That boy was sent almost rolling to the floor as he was shoved from behind. “Enough!” Sora bellowed, making the others look at him oddly. He bent down and started picking up the girls supplies. She watched him with awe on her face, which quickly turned to a brilliant blush as the boy smiled brightly at her, depositing the supplies into her bag. “Here, you need some help up?”<br/>She was hesitant to take his offered hand after he stood up, but she did tentatively. “Ew, are you serious?! What are you doing?! You’re-”<br/>“Helping someone in need.” Sora cut off the guy that was speaking, making him back up from the cold look in his eyes. “Now, unless you have anything else you’d like to say, I suggest you all leave. What you were doing wasn’t funny. It was cruel.”<br/>“Seriously? You’re a cute guy, helping a Liminal? You serious?” One of the girls said. She watched in shock as Sora helped the Liminal girl to her feet, even offering her his new hoody when she shivered. She didn’t refuse, didn’t really answer either though, so he just put the hoody on her shoulders. “Oh god, he must be one of those Liminal lovers! Gross!”<br/>“Maybe we should make him understand that these ‘things’ shouldn’t be here.” one of the boys said, cracking his knuckles.<br/>“You all still here? Go away, jerks, go terrorize a ten-year-old for their lunch money or something.” Sora smarted off with, completely disregarding the threat. As he turned, one of the boys grabbed his shoulder, pulled him back and swung hard. However, Sora wasn’t your normal dork. He ducked the hit like it was the easiest thing in the world, much to all their shock. “You don’t wanna do this.” He dodged a couple more hits.<br/>“Walk away. Last chance.” Still, he dodged more hits, but this time when the other boy stopped, Sora returned fire. With an open hand slap. “Told you.”<br/>The boy held his now red cheek, looking at Sora in shock. “Did you just slap me?”<br/>“I did. Weird huh?” Sora just smirked at the angered boy. “We can do this all day if you want. I’m more than happy to keep going, but I kinda doubt you wanna be humiliated anymore, so do as I told you. Walk away.” The brunette shoved past the group back to the Liminal girl. “Hey. Sorry about that. You okay?”<br/>She just stared at him with an open mouth as the rest of the kids ran off, the girls lingering a bit longer. They couldn’t believe a guy as cute as him would stand up for a Liminal like that. It made no sense!<br/>The girl jumped and eep’d in response to a pair of fingers being snapped in her face. “Hello~? Anyone in there?”<br/>“Y-yes?!”<br/>Sora smiled bright as the girl finally answered him. “There you are! I was kinda afraid I’d broken you or something. You okay now?” He asked earnestly.<br/>“U-uh, yes, I’m okay. Um… th-thank you for helping me, but now those kids will make your life as difficult as possible!”<br/>Sora just chuckled and put his arms behind his head. “I’m not worried about it. I’ve dealt with kids like them before. It’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m Sora, by the way.”<br/>The girl blushed lightly, hiding in her hoody… wait, she didn’t have a hoody. Was-was she wearing Sora’s hoody?! When did that happen?! Her face flushed an even deeper red in response, inadvertently taking a whiff of his scent. Fruit and sea water?<br/>“... I’m Yukiko.” She said softly.<br/>“Yukiko, huh? Nice to meetcha!” He said with the same smile as before. “You wanna sit down?” She nodded and they sat down on the bench she’d been on before the kids started messing with her. He was about to start a conversation when he heard that lead boys voice again.<br/>“Right over here, officer!”<br/>“Great.” He grumbled. “Don’t say anything, okay? They’re gonna try and get a rise out of you.” He stood up and put himself between the returning group and the cop they now had with them. He didn’t seem like mall security, meaning they went and got an actual… Oh, shit, that’s the cop that took me in the other night.<br/>“You again, huh? Picking fights now, Sora?” the officer said with a small sigh.<br/>“I wouldn’t have done anything if they hadn’t been so cruel to this girl behind me.”<br/>“He’s lying! We didn’t do anything to her!” one of the girls shouted.<br/>“You’re the one that’s lying! You were bullying Yukiko just because she’s a Liminal! You’re all mean-hearted for no reason! It’s no wonder you have to hurt others to have fun, no one would want to hang out with jerks like you!” Sora shouted, making the guys clench their fists and the girls whimper like they’d actually been hurt.<br/>“Enough!” The cop had heard enough. “Sora, I can’t condone slapping another boy, but if what you say is true, I’ll let it go for now. I’m going to the security office to check the video. If the video got deleted for whatever reason, I’ll just assume you’re right.”<br/>“What?! That’s bull shit!”<br/>“Shove it, Takashi. I’ve arrested you for truancy so many times, I should have your name stitched into my back seat. Besides, if the video is gone, I can’t punish you either, so pray it is. Harassing a Liminal is a serious crime, not just a grievance.” The kids all gulped audibly, making the cop smirk. He then turned to Yukiko, making her hide into Sora’s hoody and grab his hand. He squeezed it gently in assurance but kept his eyes on the group of kids, just boring holes in their heads with his eyes. “Young lady, where is your Host? You know you’re not allowed to be out without them.”<br/>She hesitantly pointed to a small shop just under the escalators. “In there. They… don’t allow Liminals in, so he told me to sit out here and wait for him.”<br/>The cop sighed a bit. “Stay here.” He walked over to the shop, stepping in. Sora sat down beside Yukiko, now ignoring the kids that were all glaring at him like he were the devil.<br/>After a few minutes of silence, Sora spoke. “It’s really pathetic that you went and got a cop to settle your fight for you.”<br/>“What’d you say, you Liminal-loving piece of trash!?” The lead boy shouted.<br/>But by that point, Sora had gone back to ignoring them. “So, Yukiko, you’re going to school around here?”<br/>She nodded gently. “Y-yes. I transferred into the second years classes.”<br/>“Great, she’s in our grade.” The boy said, before doubling over with a sharp groan. Sora had lifted his foot and kicked him in the gut faster than any of them could see. The boy fell over holding his gut as his friends crowded around him, trying to figure out what happened.<br/>“Watch that floor, it comes up fast.” Sora smarted off with before looking back at the girl he was talking to. “Second year, huh? That’s the grade I’m in! Maybe we’ll have class together, huh? That’d be pretty cool. But, I was meaning to ask, what kind of Liminal are you?”<br/>“Oh! W-well I’m a yeti. We normally live in the snowy mountains, but we can survive in just about any environment. My mom and dad actually have a really awesome ski resort. I loved spending my days skiing out there, but I wanted to see a bit more of the world.”<br/>“I can totally understand that. This place is way different from my island.” By now the kids had left them, shouting idle threats as they went.<br/>“Island? You’re from the tropics?”<br/>“I guess you could say that, but you won’t find my dinky little island on any map. I do miss it. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, seen my mom, but there’s something I need to do first before I get to go home.”<br/>“What’s that?”<br/>Sora opened his mouth to speak, but instead looked over at the shop to see a man yelling at the cop from earlier. He was pulling down a ‘No Sub-Human’ sign from the front of his store before turning and bellowing in the man’s face. They were far enough away that Sora couldn’t hear it well, but he did hear ‘shut you down.’ Another man, a grungy looking young man was walking past them. He didn’t look happy. And judging by the way Yukiko stiffened at his appearance, Sora guessed he was her Host and that they didn’t get along very well.<br/>“Yukiko! I thought I told you to not make any trouble.” He said harshly.<br/>“S-sorry, Akio…” She said glumly.<br/>“Hey, she didn’t start anything! Those bratty kids did! Maybe if you were here doing your job as her Host, it wouldn’t have happened!” Sora barked in the man’s face.<br/>Yukiko’s eyes widened as Sora stood up for her again, this time against her own Host! “Sora!” The two males didn’t break their staredown, even after Kimihito and company ran over to them. “What’s going on?”<br/>“Clearing up some things.”<br/>“You’ve got no right telling me how to do my job, kid.” Akio growled out.<br/>“Do I have the right to tell you your breath reeks? Seriously, you could choke a maggot with that.”<br/>Yukiko was trying to not laugh at that when Kimihito pushed the two apart. “Sora, that’s enough! What’s gotten into you?”<br/>“Nothing. I just don’t like this guy insinuating Yukiko was out to get herself bullied when he left her out here on her own!”<br/>“Enough, Sora.” The cop said as he returned to the group. “I checked the footage and you were right. Those kids started it. You did the right thing standing up for Yukiko here, but I still won’t condone you slapping another boy to get your point across.”<br/>“You did what?!” Kimihito shouted.<br/>“I didn’t even hit him that hard. Besides he started swinging first.”<br/>“It’s true!” Yukiko chimed in with. “He was just helping me! He didn’t do anything wrong!”<br/>“Wait, wait, wait!” Kimihito said before taking a breath. “Alright, roll it back, let’s hear what happened.”<br/>“Fine by me.” Sora recounted what happened after he slipped away from the group, something he apologized for, up to the point Kimihito joined them.<br/>“Goodness, it would seem thou hath a hero’s heart, Sora.” Cerea remarked.<br/>“That was such a romantic story! The brave fighter coming to the adorable maidens aid in her time of need!” Miia gushed.<br/>“So, Sora slapped a boy?” That was about all Papi heard.<br/>Kimihito was happy Sora stood up for someone, but less happy about him slapping another boy in the face. Even if he had slugged a guy over Miia before.<br/>“That’s what the video shows, so he’s telling the truth.” The cop backed him up. He liked the kid, just not when he was making his life more difficult. “Now, let’s go ahead and just put this all behind us. The problem is solved and the kids have left. I’m overlooking Sora slapping the other boy because he did warn him and he was attacked first, but don’t let it happen again, okay, kid?”<br/>“No promises.” Kimihito smacked him upside the head, still holding the bridge of his nose. “Ow! Fine, I’ll try.”<br/>“That’s all I ask.” The cop left after that, leaving the group alone with Yukiko and her Host.<br/>The man huffed angrily before walking off. “Yukiko, we’re leaving. You got your supplies, we’re going home.”<br/>“O-okay, Akio.” Yukiko started to follow, but stopped when she realized she was still wearing Sora’s hoody. She pulled it off and held it out to the boy. “H-here… Thank you. Really.”<br/>He just smiled brightly, took the hoody and, with a flourish for dramatic effect, pulled it back on. “No problem. I dealt with bullies like that all the time back home. The trick is to not be scared of them. You don’t have to do what I did to stand up to a bully. I just like my method better.”<br/>“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you stand up for me?”<br/>Sora didn’t answer, instead, he pulled out his Gummiphone. “You got a phone?” She looked at him oddly and nodded before pulling hers out. He offered his to her after pulling up the contacts. “Put your number in. You can call me if you wanna talk.”<br/>She just stared in shock as Akio scoffed behind her. “Hurry it up.” He growled out.<br/>“I don’t like that man.” Papi whispered to Kimihito.<br/>“I don’t think anyone does, Bird-brain.” Miia said, glaring at the man.<br/>Yukiko was almost giddy as she typed in her number, letting Sora do the same. She was getting a boys number! Sure, it wasn’t her boyfriend or even for a date, but still! Her mother would never believe it. She passed it back to him before getting shy again. “U-um, does this mean… we’re friends?”<br/>Sora pocketed his phone and smiled. “Yeah, if you wanna be.” He yelped as Yukiko hugged him tight. He wasn’t being crushed like with Miia, but it was still a tight hug. He didn’t mind it, though. She was awfully warm and really soft though, even for a girl. Wow, her chest is even bigger than I thought. He smiled, blushing lightly before hugging her back. “I guess that’s a yes then.”<br/>“Yukiko!” Akio barked, making Sora glare at him again.<br/>Reluctantly, Yukiko let her new friend go. She had the biggest, prettiest smile on her face as she looked up at Sora. Yep, she was shorter than him by a good few inches. “There’s that smile. Keep that smile up, okay? No sad faces allowed around me.” She nodded before finally fully letting Sora go.<br/>“Bye, Sora! See you at school!” <br/>“See ya!” He called after her as she left. He hummed a bit as he turned back to his group, stopping. Papi was being, well, Papi, hugging Miia. Miia was watching him with glittering eyes. God only knows what was going on in her overly-romantic head. Centorea was just watching him with a mixture of curiosity and a touch of admiration. Kimihito… still wasn’t happy, but he was less angry about it after seeing that.<br/>“We’ll talk about this later, Sora.” was all he said on it before showing Sora all the supplies he’d be taking with him to school. Sora was less apprehensive of the idea now, considering he’d have a friend to hang out with.<br/>…<br/>Wake up, Lazy Bum.<br/>We’ll name the raft the Highwind.<br/>Sora…<br/>Lead me into Everlasting darkness!<br/>Take good care of Kairi.<br/>I’ll come back for you, I promise!<br/>I know you will!<br/>You require motivation.<br/>…<br/>“Kairi!” Sora screamed as he jolted upright in bed, whimpering and shouting as he caught his breath! He jumped and almost conjured the Keyblade as the door to his new room was kicked in by Centorea.<br/>“What?! Who disturbs thy sleep, Sora?! I will smite them in the name of a good night’s rest!” She screamed, aiming her sword around the room.<br/>Kimihito was able to push past the centaur, despite her efforts, and flipped on the light. He and the other three occupants froze at the sight of the boy. Sora had been chipper, happy and almost too excited to go to bed earlier in the night, but now, he was covered in cold sweat, shaking and cowering in the corner of his bed, his knees pulled to his chest as he rocked himself, sobbing so hard he was hiccuping.<br/>“Oh, god. Sora.” Kimihito rushed over to the boy, sitting on the bed and pulling him into his arms, rubbing his back as he cried loudly. “Shh, hey, it’s okay. It was just a nightmare. You’re okay, you’re safe.”<br/>“I wasn’t fast enough. If I had been faster, if I had been stronger, she’d never would have gotten hurt. It’s my fault.”<br/>“Sora, shh, it’s not your fault.” Kimihito looked up at the girls that were just staring.<br/>“Cerea, go make some tea. Papi, do you think you can get Sora a snack? Crackers or something?” Miia asked. The two nodded before leaving the room. Miia slithered over to the two, settling on the bed and gently petting the boys head. He looked so sad, so scared, so different from before. “Sora, can you talk about it?”<br/>After a moment, he shook his head. “I-I can’t.”<br/>“Sora, we can’t help you if you won’t talk to us.”<br/>“I can’t. I want to, but I can’t.”<br/>“Is there someone you could call? Maybe a friend from the island? Riku?” Kimihito suggested.<br/>Sora sniffled. “I-I can’t. I left him and everyone else to find Kairi.”<br/>“Who’s Kairi?” Miia asked.<br/>Kimihito sighed gently. “Sora. You don’t need to tell us anything about what lead up to it. What happened to her? What happened to Kairi?”<br/>The boy’s lip quivered as fresh tears ran down his cheeks, but he was quiet. Kimihito sighed gently and just stayed with Sora for the night. So did the girls. They even brought a spare tv up to Sora’s room for games. It was almost sunrise by the time they finished up. Miia watched over Sora as he finally slept, letting everyone else head onto bed and letting him use her tail as a lap pillow. She continued to play with his hair as he rested, finding that it calmed him.<br/>“Miia…”<br/>“Yes, Sora?”<br/>“You should go to bed. I’m okay now.” The boy said tiredly.<br/>She shook her head. “I’m okay. Snakes can stay up for longer than people think. I’m here. You aren’t alone.”<br/>He smiled very softly. “I always wanted a big sister.’<br/>She smiled and chuckled. “Maybe you should call me Miia-nee then.”<br/>“I’ll think about it.”<br/>She smiled more and laughed before she started signing a lullaby from her village. It was one her mother sang to her when she was little. She wanted a little brother to spoil, but now she had one to help. And she wasn’t letting him suffer alone anymore. None of them would. For the first time in a very long time, in a house he’s only spent a day in, Sora felt at home.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kimihito yawned a bit as he sipped at his coffee. Sora had decided to handle breakfast today since he was the only that was really ‘up’ this early. It was early even for Kimihito, but ever since Sora’s episode a few nights before, he’s been up and cooking breakfast even before the sun rose. Kimihito normally lead it and Sora helped, but today, Sora gave him the day off. He made a large breakfast of omelets, vegetarian for Centorea, bacon, ham, a large v, and some orange and blueberry muffins.<br/>Kimihito had to admit, he loved having Sora around. The boy was really helpful with chores and cooking. It was an absolute godsend to have some help after all this time.<br/>“This vegetarian omelet is outstanding, Sora. Did that French chef teach it to you?” Centorea asked as she ate.<br/>“Actually, it was something I learned for a friend. She’s a vegetarian. Pretty vocal about it too. She was even against us getting seagull eggs for our trip off the islands. It took me and Riku hours to convince her we needed the protein.”<br/>“Well, I adore that you would go so far for a friend, Sora. It’s so sweet!” Miia said as she ate her own omelet. “But, I have to say, I love your regular omelet. It’s second only to my Darlings!”<br/>“Omelet!” Papi cried out as she finished her plate. “I’m done! Hubby, can me and Sora go play now?!”<br/>“Papi, Sora hasn’t eaten yet.” Kimihito said. “Seriously though, Sora, you have to give me that recipe. I’ve never had omelets this good.”<br/>The boy chuckled as he finished his own food, simply standing at the counter as he ate. “I’ll write it down for you. And sorry Papi, but I’m gonna be training most of the day today.”<br/>“Training?” Kimihito asked.<br/>“Master Abel instilled a very… deeply rooted ideal of daily training. I’ve been slacking. He’d beat me with that old staff of his if he found out, so I’m gonna spend the day knocking the rust off.”<br/>“Sora, we still haven’t talked about what happened yesterday.” The Host said, making the boy groan a bit.<br/>“Darling, Sora was protecting that girl. We should be rewarding him!” Miia said.<br/>“Not when he could have gotten the Exchange Program shut down, Miia.”<br/>This got Sora’s attention. “What?”<br/>Kimihito sighed a bit as he set his utensils down. “Sora, the Extra-Species Exchange Program is already on thin ice as it is. The law clearly states that a Liminal cannot harm a human and vice versa. You’re classified as a Special Term Liminal because of what you can do. If anyone at the mall had known that, you could have been deported or worse, gotten the program shut down. You said it yourself, you can stand up for yourself without having to get physical.”<br/>“You can stand up for yourself without getting physical. Standing up for someone else is a different story, Kimihito.” Sora retorted. “You know what the only thing I remember about my dad is besides this necklace?” He lifted his Crown Piece necklace. “He taught me something, something Master Abel taught him. ‘A good man stands up for himself. A better man stands up for others.’ He taught me that sometimes you have to fight to get your point across, especially when it isn’t you being picked on.”<br/>“Sora, I’m not saying you were wrong. I agree with you standing up for Yukiko, but you need to know that you can’t solve these issues by just slapping people around. If someone finds out that you’re classified as a Liminal, you aren’t the only one that will be affected. Your actions could condone all other Liminals, that includes Miia, Papi, Cerea, and Yukiko.”<br/>This quieted the annoyed teenager. Sora sighed and leaned his head back. “Are things really that bad?” They all nodded, making him groan loudly. “Fantastic. I’m here less than a week and I’m already screwing things up.”<br/>“Sora, it’s not that bad. No one realized that you’re a Liminal. You just need to be more careful and not slap your classmates as often.”<br/>“Well, I still agree with him.” Miia said with a huff.<br/>“Hear, hear.” was Cerea’s response. “Sora, if thou intend to train in thy swordsmanship today, I would be very happy to volunteer as thy sparring partner.”<br/>“Really?” Sora asked as he finished his omelet. “I mean, sure, that would be great. I haven’t had a sparring partner in a while.”<br/>“Now, hold on, you two. Where are you even going to practice?” Kimihito asked.<br/>“Backyard.” They both answered.<br/>“Why did I even bother asking? Just… please be careful not to hurt each other.”<br/>“Master, I am the modicum of control and restraint.” Miia scoffed and snickered, making the centaur glare at her.<br/>“Okay, well, I’ll meet you out there, okay?” Sora said as he stood back up to full height. Papi pout at the boy with big, teary eyes. “No, not the puppy eyes, Papi.” She kept it up, even throwing in a quivering lip. She really wanted to play games. “Okay, okay! After I spar with Cerea, we can play Smash Bros.”<br/>The harpy squealed and hugged the boy tight. “Yay! Games, games!” With that, she flew to the living room to wait. <br/>Sora shook his head. “I am such a pushover for a pretty girl with puppy eyes.” He looked at the grinning Miia and narrowed his eyes. “You tell Yukiko that and I will turn your room into a freezer.”<br/>“That’s so mean!”<br/>“Don’t care!” he said as he walked to the living room, followed by Cerea. He opened the sliding glass door and stepped out, taking a deep breath. “Ahh, not super early, but still early enough to feel the dew in the air. Perfect time to train.”<br/>“I agree wholeheartedly. I see that thine Master trained thou well.” The blonde centaur said as she stepped to one side of the yard. She had a rack with practice swords lined up, grabbing two before offering Sora one. “Is thou ready? I do not take swordplay lightly. If thou are not serious, thou could be wounded.”<br/>“I can handle it.” He said with a smirk, giving the practice sword a few swings to test it’s weight. Cerea’s eyes widened a bit as she saw of the grass behind him cut with each swing. <br/>His blade never touched the grass. Mayhaps his training was more in depth than I realized. “Ready thy self!” She shouted, taking her stance. She looked a bit confused when Sora dropped into his stance, but she didn’t argue. Each master had their own style with the sword. She gave a battle cry, rushing the boy with a gallop, not too surprised when he backstepped and swung his weapon up to knock her attack away. She turned the blade down and to her side to block his swipe at her ribs.<br/>They clashed a few more times with Sora getting more aggressive as he nailed down her pattern. She was starting to be forced back as the boy’s blows came faster and faster. She took little hits here and there to better defend his heavier strikes before he knocked aside another of her attacks, tearing her weapon from her hands. She found his practice sword aimed at her throat and for a moment, it was not the boy that had been living with them the past few days, but a young man who lived a similar life to hers.<br/>After it was said and done, they’d traded almost a hundred blows, but their match had only lasted a few minutes. She was panting heavily, a thin sheen of sweat on her face, but Sora wasn’t even breathing hard. He smiled bright, bent down and picked up Cerea’s sword, holding it out to her.<br/>“Thanks, Cerea! That was the best match I’ve had in a while. You wanna go for a second round?”<br/>She just stared at the boy before her face moved to a resolute mask. “Absolutely. I had not known thine training was so extensive. Thou will have to work to disarm me this time!” She said with a smile.<br/>Sora dropped back into his stance, rushing at Cerea this time. The two continued sparring while, inside, their housemates just watched. They’d all watched Centorea train for hours everyday and they had never seen anyone keep up with her, let alone beat her. Sora’s reflexes and power were incredibly refined, almost to a surgical point. It made Kimihito wonder what kind of man his master was. He was convinced to play some Mario Kart with Papi and Miia while they waited for their sword  swinging to finish.<br/>It was about ten when the two finally came in, both sweaty with Cerea panting heavily, but both looking very much satisfied. “Whoo! That was great! I haven’t had a good spar like that since I was back on the islands!” They were both careful to not interrupt the game in progress as they came in.<br/>“Incredible. Thou… Thou hast the stamina of a god to not even be breathing hard.”<br/>“Oh, yeah. Master Abel developed me and Riku’s stamina and power before anything else.” Sora lifted his arms and put them behind his head before sniffing a bit. He then took a whiff of his pits. “Woof! I reek! Phew, that’s bad.”<br/>Centorea sniffed herself as well, her nose scrunching and her ears pinning back against her head. “Yes, a bath maybe in order. I will take longer for mine, so mayhaps thou should go first.”<br/>“Really? Thanks, Cerea! Let me know the next time you want that veggie omelet if Kimihito isn’t up to cooking, okay?” Sora hummed happily as he pulled his shirt up and off, the centaur’s eyes widening.<br/>Kimihito looked up to ask if Cerea wanted to sit in a round or two while she waited on Sora to finish bathing, catching the look of abject horror on her face. “Hey, Cerea, what’s up?”<br/>“Master… Sora’s back… He…” By now, Miia and Papi had paused the game to listen to their blonde friend. She looked to them, almost in tears. “His back was littered with scars, as if he’d been attacked by some feral beast.”<br/>…<br/>Sora hummed as he got into the bathroom, chuckling a bit as he saw Kimihito had already filled it up. He tossed his sweaty shirt into the hamper before finishing up with stripping down. He caught a look of his reflection in the mirror. He almost wiped the steam off it to look at himself, but he knew what he’d see. A young man with brown, spiky hair, blue eyes and a well cut form that was unfortunately marred by the numerous scars he’d earned over the past two years, mostly of the first few weeks he travelled with Donald and Goofy when he was still getting used to fighting the Heartless. Not to mention the scars left by Riku when he turned to the darkness, Roxas, any of Xehanorts forms, and Terra’s Lingering Will.<br/>He kept his necklace on before stepping into the water, sighing, almost moaning, in delight. Hot, but not too hot. Perfect for letting muscles relax after a training session. He hummed happily as he let himself relax.<br/>Sssslurrrrrp…<br/>... What was that? Sora looked to his right to see a… What. Is. That? It looked like a bluish-green straw was in the bath water with him, slurping up the water slowly. He reached out slowly and poked it. It quickly retracted like it had been shocked. Sora followed it as it retreated to a bucket he and Kimihito used to clean the massive tub after the girls bathed. He got out of the bath slowly and walked over to the bucket, slowly looking in it. What he found… confused him. It was like a liquid of some kind.<br/>It was a cloudy blue-green color with a feeler at the top and two big emerald eyes. They weren’t like a Heartless’ eyes,, yellow, beady and angry. They were bright and curious. He reached into the bucket slowly and the feeler wrapped gently around his arm. When it pulled away, his arm was bone dry. “Whoa… Wait, are you thirsty?”<br/>The being said nothing as he stared at it. “Well, if you’re thirsty, I can make you much nicer water to drink.” He lifted a hand and cast Water, forming a little ball of clear water. He lowered it down to the bucket and the creature launched out with a large tentacle, encasing the ball and drinking it down almost immediately.<br/>Sora recoiled and fell on his butt, the creature following him. He wasn’t mad or scared, just surprised. Looking into this things eyes, he knew it meant him no harm. It latched to his arm which did unsettle him a bit. “D-do you want more?” The glob on his arm seemed to actually form a head that rose from the larger form. It wasn’t very formed, so it was kinda like a bump with eyes, watching him.<br/>He smiled and started to stream water into the creatures body through his trapped hand. After a couple of seconds, it extended a feeler out to his other hand, wrapping gently around the boys opposite hand. It was such and odd feeling, having his hand trapped in slime… Wait, slime?<br/>“That’s what you are. You’re a slime. Do you have a name?” It just stared at Sora for a few seconds.<br/>“N-name?” It said in a shaky voice.<br/>“Yeah, a name. I’m Sora.”<br/>“S-S-Sora?” It repeated softly. <br/>“Yep.” He pointed to himself. “Sora. My name is Sora.” It was apparent that this slime wasn’t very intelligent, or it at least didn’t understand much. It was kinda cute to be honest. <br/>“Suu! Sora!”<br/>“Yeah, that’s right! Good. Now, what’s your name?”<br/>“Suu?” it said, tilting its bump-head a bit curiously.<br/>“You… don’t have a name?” The slime just stared at Sora for a bit. “Hmm… Then, how about Suu? You seem to like making the noise.”<br/>“Suu?” it said.<br/>“Yep. Sora,” he pointed to himself. “Suu.” He pointed to it.<br/>Its tendril reached out and pointed at Sora, “S-Sora.” then at itself. “Suu.”<br/> Sora nodded with a smile. “Yep! Hi, Suu.”<br/>“H-h-hi… Sora.” It’s voice seemed almost excited after a moment, the whole of it’s body shivered. Sora felt the drain on his mana start taking its toll, so he cut the flow off. Suu stayed attached to him before sliding back into its bucket.<br/>“Let me finish up my bath and I’ll take you up to my room, okay? We’ll ask Kimihito what I should do about you after that.” The slime made no other response other than to watch him. He did notice that all the water he’d given it had caused it to expand almost to the point of spilling out of the bucket.<br/>Sora dove under the water of the massive tub. It was something he did a lot back home, especially during Blitzball season. He’d submerge himself for hours at a time, just stew in the water for a bit. Back on the islands, the water used for Blitzball was a special blend that let them breathe in it, but now, Sora knew how to do it with magic. He knew he couldn’t stay here as long as wanted, but he could for a bit at least.<br/>He just needed to get all his thoughts in order. The past few nights, that not as bad as the first night, were rougher than he let on. He started wearing a gag made from one of the bandanna’s he kept with him to keep his screaming quiet so he didn’t wake everyone anymore. Rudimentary, but it did the job. He knew he needed help. He knew he needed to talk to someone, but he couldn’t. Not now. Maybe not ever. He had to shoulder this burden on his own.<br/>He popped back out of the water, shaking the water from his head. He didn’t want to dwell on this all anymore. He grabbed the shampoo and set about cleaning his hair. He didn’t really have the option to consistently clean himself when he was travelling as the Gummi Ship didn’t have a shower area, something he tried to get Chip and Dale to add to no avail. So, when the water started to darken a bit as he rinsed out his hair, he wasn’t very surprised.<br/>He sighed happily before pulling himself out of the water and stepping under the shower to work on cleaning the rest of him and condition his hair. It was a process, but a very relaxing one. He finished up and got dressed with a happy sigh. He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled more. He looked a bit more like himself again. He grabbed the bucket Suu was in and lifted it. <br/>“Whoa, jeez, I think I over-watered you, you got heavy.” The slime just stared at him. “Don’t worry, Kimihito and everyone are super nice. They won’t do anything to you, but I am gonna have you stay upstairs in my room for a bit, okay?” He poked his head out the bathroom, looking around to be sure he wasn’t seen before booking it to the stairs. He was almost at the top when he heard a voice.<br/>“Sora.” Kimihito said.<br/>“Damn.” He whispered. “What’s up?”<br/>“Hey, I wanna talk to you, we all do. Think you could come downstairs?”<br/>“Uh, yeah, g-give me a minute. I forgot to get clean clothes before I hopped in the bath and I need to change, okay?”<br/>“Alright. Smith is here too.”<br/>Wait, what? Why do they wanna talk to me with Smith here? I guess I’ll find out when I get downstairs. He got up to his room, a surprisingly spacious room with just about everything a boy his age could need. A decent sized bed under the window with a small desk at the foot of it with his new laptop on it. He’d been having Kimihito show him how to use it the past few days, but he still didn’t use it much.<br/>He’d been given the idea of writing down what he was dreaming about to help work through it all by Miia, so Kimihito showed him how to use a document program on it. Over the past week, he’d filled it with his dreams and his memories. He’d started from when Riku met Terra all the way up to his first time to Hollow Bastion.<br/>He set the bucket down as Suu started watching him again. He stripped back down and grabbed another set of clothes. He’d lied to Kimihito to give himself a reason to get up to his room, so he figured he’d go ahead and change. He pulled on his old outfit, the black and red hoody set he’d worn on his last adventure with Goofy and Donald. He was really happy Kimihito washed it for him.<br/>He knelt down by the bucket and smiled at Suu, gently patting its slimy head. “I’ll be back. Stay.” He got up to leave and the slime launched out and grabbed his arm. He looked back at it and its eyes almost broke his heart. It was scared. He smiled again. “I’ll be back. I promise. Just wait for me, okay?” <br/>He looked around for a moment before he formed a fist sized ice crystal. It glittered beautifully, a by-product of him adding a bit of extra magic from his heart to keep it from melting too quickly “Here. Suck on this. It’ll give you water if you suck on it enough. Do this until I get back, okay?” Slowly the slime released his arm, tentatively touching the crystal. It recoiled at the cold of it, slowly reaching back out and slowly pulling it in.<br/>The slime shivered for a second as it pulled the ice crystal into its body, its eyes still on Sora. “I’ll be back in just a bit, okay?” He grabbed a towel and wiped the slime from his arm. He smiled at the slime again before walking out the door of his room. He slid down the banister of the stairs to the living room, making Papi laugh as he landed. “And he sticks the landing!” He bowed as the occupants of the house all started to clap. “Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here… everyday, I guess.” They all chuckled at that.<br/>He sat down as Smith smiled at him. “How are you settling in, sweetheart?”<br/>“Pretty good. I spent the morning sparring with Cerea. Why?”<br/>“Well, your friends here called me because Centorea noticed something.” He looked confused as Smith set her coffee down. “Sora, this will be a bit awkward, but I want to take off your shirt.”<br/>He chuckled a bit. “What?”<br/>“Sora.” Cerea got his attention. “Today, after we had trained, I saw that thine back was covered in scars of battles past.” Sora’s smile slowly vanished.<br/>“I should have waited until I was actually in the bathroom to take off my shirt, huh?” He sighed a bit and stood up, pulling the zipper of his hoody down before pulling it off. He then pulled the black t-shirt he had on under it up and off. The others in the room looked every bit as horrified as Cerea had. The centaur looked away.<br/>Smith had seen similar scars on child soldiers. “Sora, how did you get these scars?”<br/>“It’s pretty simple, really. Right after I got home from training,my friends and I started working on a raft so we could leave and see what the rest of the world was like. The night before we left, my friends were kidnapped. I ran away to try and find them. The first few weeks were… rough. I was good at fighting, but the fights I was having to do weren’t schoolyard brawls or training matches anymore. I was fighting for my life. It took me longer than it should have to get myself into the right mindset, but I had a couple of friends I met along the way to help keep me alive.”<br/>“Sora, what was it you were fighting?” Kimihito asked next. He wasn’t surprised when Sora went quiet again. “Sora.”<br/>“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”<br/>“You said the same thing to me, sweetheart.” Smith interjected with as Sora pulled his shirt back on.<br/>“Okay, then let me tell you something else. It’s safer if you don’t know. Even if I told you, the things I saw, the things I fought, you can’t beat them. Even if you can, they won’t stay beaten. They never do. They just get stronger and stronger.” He sighed gently, leaning his head back. “They can take your world. They can take your heart. Cut you loose from all you know. There is no stopping them. There’s only stemming the tide. I made a promise when I was given the power to fight… them that I wouldn’t reveal any information outside of what was necessary. Please, please respect that.”<br/>The group sighed almost collectively. Miia got up and slithered over to the boy, hugging his head to her chest. “Okay, we’ll do that. If you need to talk though, Miia-neechan is here for you.”<br/>“Still trying to get me to call you that, huh?” This made everyone laugh a bit until Smith shrieked and jumped to her feet, falling back onto her butt as she tried to get away. Sora’s eyes widened at the sight. “What?! What’s wrong?” He felt a cool touch seep through the shoulder of his shirt, looking to his side to see a bluish-green hand. He slowly looked up as Miia screamed and backed up. It looked like a girl, about his age… kinda? She was blue for the most part with dark green hair that looked like one part, like a helmet. She had a feeler on top of her head and big, emerald eyes. Her eyes… “Suu?”<br/>…<br/>After explaining that he found Suu in the bathroom and that he’d carried her to his room until he could explain her to everyone. He and Cerea butted heads to say the least. They still were.<br/>“Slimes are rare and dangerous creatures! I will not allow one to reside in my Masters’ home! Step aside, Sora!” The centuar shouted, brandishing her (fake) sword.<br/>“Like hell! Suu isn’t dangerous! She’s just curious! She won’t hurt anyone!” Suu whimpered as she cowered behind Sora. He had no idea how she’d gotten a human form or how she seemed to have a better handle on emotion now, but he could figure that out later. Right now, crazy horse-lady with a sword.<br/>“Okay, let’s all calm down.” Smith said as she stepped between the two. “You named her Suu?” The slime’s tendril popped up when she heard her name.<br/>“Yes. She didn’t have a name, I thought she deserved one.” Sora said, keeping himself between the rest of the room and Suu.<br/>Smith nodded a bit and looked to Centorea. “Does she look dangerous to you? Cause she looks like a scared little girl to me.”<br/>The centaur looked between Smith, her friend, and the slime. The slime looked… so scared. It reminded her of Sora the other night. She was afraid for her life. She sighed and lowered her weapon. “If she shows any sign of being dangerous, I will not stay my blade.”<br/>“To be fair, the only recorded variant of slimes that are dangerous are black slimes.” Smith said, making Sora just stare at her in shock.<br/>“Open with that next time!”<br/>“Well, I’m sorry. I was a little bit preoccupied with the fact you randomly found a slime in your bathroom!”<br/>“Smith.” The coordinator turned to Kimihito. “Things have settled down and now I want to know what you’re planning to do with her.” Sora gave Kimihito an almost hopeless look. “Sora, I actually don’t mind her staying here, but it’s out of my hands. I’m not her host.”<br/>“Actually,” Smith started. “Suu doesn’t need a host. Not technically. Slimes never showed up to the negotiations of the Exchange Bill, so they are not listed under the programs guidelines. It’s as much out of my jurisdiction as it is yours, Darling.” The cooridinator looked back at the slime girl, smiling at how she clung to Sora. “If you don’t mind her being here, let her stay. It’ll save me some paperwork and Sora gets to keep his friend.”<br/>Papi screeched happily. “Yay! New friend!” She hugged the surprised slime girl tight, not at all caring about how wet her feathers were getting. Suu looked to Sora, seeing him smile. She hugged Papi back happily before being yanked over to the couch for games.<br/>“Ah! Wait!” Kimihito said, making Papi and Suu freeze. A few seconds later, he had Suu dressed in a raincoat and boots to keep her from soaking the couch as she was leaving slimy foot prints everywhere.<br/>“Sora, Sora! Come play! Papi wants to race!” the harpy shouted as she started up Mario Kart.<br/>Sora was about to hop onto the beside Suu when Smith pulled him into the kitchen. “Sorry, girls, but I need to borrow Sora and Darling. Centorea, Miia, why don’t you two sit in and you can trade out when I’m done with them?” She didn’t give them time to answer, pulling the men into the kitchen with her. “Okay, so I need to let you two know some things. First, Sora, you are officially a student at the first Japanese high school to allow Liminal students. Congratulations. I’ll text you the address when I get back to the office. <br/>This,” She pulled a file from her bag and handed it to Sora. “Is your schedule, a map of the school and a rule book along with your student Host license. It allows to have school friends with you off school grounds. Since your tests said you’re human, we’ll be acting like you are.”<br/>She poured herself another cup of coffee before taking a bite out of a pre-packaged sandwich. “I was hoping you had breakfast, but so much has been going on that I figured I’d need a back-up.”<br/>“We could just cook you something, you know.” Sora said.<br/>Smith waved him off before kissing the boys cheek. “You’re sweet, but I have to be going soon. The other thing I needed to say is for you, Darling. It would seem that the Committee in charge of the Exchange Program have decided that marriage is now allowed between humans and the species under the bill. And guess who’s been picked as a control Host?”<br/>Kimihito’s face turned to one of shock and horror. Sora just sipped a glass of milk before he noticed that the girls game had stopped. He looked up at the doorway to see Miia, Cerea, and Papi standing there, their eyes blinking owlishly. Suu tilted her head a bit in confusion.<br/>“M-marriage?” she said in confusion, making Kimihito nearly jump out of his skin.<br/>“Ah, this makes it a bit easier now. You see, Darling, you have to choose which of these lovely ladies you’ll be taking as a bride. Really, you only have yourself to blame for the conflict I see in your eyes. You should have been more decisive.” Smith said as she finished her coffee. “Well, I’ll be on my way. Sora, sweetie, call me after school tomorrow, let me know how it went, okay?”<br/>“Wait, what, tomorrow?!” But that was the last Smith said as she left the house, eating her sandwich. Sora groaned a bit, looking back at the group of frozen adults. He just watched them stare at each other for a bit.<br/>“Sora.” Suu said, getting all their attentions. “What’s marriage?”<br/>…<br/>Sora was in his room, sitting at his desk with Suu’s arms draped around his neck. She wanted to hang off his back for some reason while he worked on his computer. He did find it adorable that she was rubbing her cheek against his, but she was getting him all slimy. <br/>“Suu, come on, I just bathed.” He said with a laugh.<br/>“Suu!” She said excitedly. “Sora, what’s marriage?”<br/>“Well, you haven’t told me how you can talk so well or why you look human now.” He said, turning in his chair to look at the slime girl.<br/>She smiled and jumped back, grabbing the bucket he brought her in before showing him the crystal he’d made. “Sora! Heart!”<br/>“Heart?” Then it dawned on Sora. He’d used his heart’s power to reinforce the ice. “Suu, did you… did you learn how to make your own form from the ice I gave you?”<br/>“Suu!” She nodded enthusiastically.<br/>A cold shiver ran down Sora’s spine. His heart had inadvertently touched Suu’s. He taught her this. She learned to talk from him. “Suu, you need to tell me does the word ‘Keyblade’ mean something to you?”<br/>“Suu!” A few tentacles appeared from her back, changing shape. They changed into the Kingdom Key, or a green, slime version of it.<br/>Sora was officially floored. How much did she know? How much of his heart had she come in contact with? Did he… No, her heart isn’t strong enough for that yet. I couldn’t have marked her. But now the issue was how did he find out how much she knew.<br/>Sora sighed and slumped in his chair a bit. He was going to need help with this one. He pulled out his Gummiphone as Suu sat in her kiddie pool provided by Kimihito, watching him curiously. He punched in a number and brought it up to the side of his head.<br/>“Aqua? It’s Sora. … Yeah, it’s nice to hear from you too. Listen, I have a favor to ask. I need to know if there’s a way to look into someone’s heart while they’re awake.”</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aqua smiled as she watched Terra and Ven spar. It was like old times. The only difference now was that it was Terra stopping the match to tell Ven how to better his fighting style. He seemed so much like Master Eraqus like this, stern, but kind and patient. She may have been the one who inherited their master’s Keyblade, but Terra was the Master of the Land of Departure now. She was okay with helping train the other Keybearers as his second. But, it did make her miss a certain spiky haired haired swordsman. <br/>She missed Zack much more than she said. Terra and Ven knew he’d helped her through the Realm of Darkness and they knew that in his and her heart, they were married. But they also knew now why Zack couldn’t come back to the Realm of Light with Aqua. She’d cried at his grave, Ven had told him that he became a hero someone could look up to. Terra said nothing, only placing a Wayfinder on the Buster Sword for him to find his way home.<br/>Right now, she was sitting on the steps leading to the castle, watching her boys and toying with the ring on her finger. She missed this so much. She yelped and jumped at the ringing in her pocket. She fished around for a moment before she pulled out her phone. Her eyes widened. “Ven! Terra! It’s Sora!”<br/>The boys stopped sparring when they heard Aqua call. “Sora?” Ven looked back at Terra before running over to the blue haired woman. “Answer it!”<br/>“I am, I am!” Aqua fumbled for a second. She didn’t quite understand these things yet, but she finally got the button pressed. “Hello?”<br/>“Aqua? It’s Sora.”<br/>“Hey, Sora. It’s good to finally hear from you.”<br/>“Yeah, it’s nice to hear from you too. Listen, I have a favor to ask. I need to know if there’s a way to look into someone’s heart while they’re awake.”<br/>This had Aqua’s attention. That… “Sora, what you’re asking about is an incredibly difficult spell. One that even Master Eraqus rarely used.”<br/>“What’s he asking about?” Terra asked.<br/>“Hold on, Sora.” Aqua hit a button on the phone after she pulled it away from her head. “Okay, you’re on video. Ven and Terra are here too.”<br/>“Hey guys! Been a while. I heard Terra was a Keyblade Master now. Congrats!”<br/>Terra chuckled a bit. “Thanks, Sora. And Master Yen Sid told us to let you know when we heard from you that you are officially a Keyblade Master yourself. Congratulations.”<br/>“Hey, come on, I wanna talk to him!” Ven shouted, trying to jump over Terra’s shoulder to see Sora on the phone.<br/>The brunette laughed. ‘Hey, Big Brother. How’s training going?”<br/>“Good. How’s the search going?” Ven asked as he finally found some space to look his ‘brother’ in the eye. Sora’s smile weakened for a moment making Ven hum. “It’s okay, Sora. If anyone can find her, it’s you.”<br/>“Suu?”<br/>“Uh, Sora, who was that?” Aqua asked.<br/>Sora chuckled and turned so that they could better see where he was. He was in a bedroom somewhere. And… “Ohhh, she’s so cute!” Aqua squealed as she caught sight of a blue, translucent looking girl in a rain coat.<br/>“Aqua, Terra, Ven, say hi to Suu. She’s a slime. Literally, she’s a slime monster.”<br/>“Suu!” The slime girl waved excitedly to three on the other side of the phone.<br/>“Hi, Suu! Oh, Sora, she’s so cute!” Aqua said as Ven waved excitedly back.<br/>“You’re such a girl.” Terra said before he was punched in his soft parts.<br/>The large male rolled around on the top step, holding himself as the annoyed Aqua smiled at Sora again. “Sorry about that. Now, why were you asking about looking into someone’s heart while they’re awake?”<br/>“Heart!” Suu exclaimed.<br/>“That’s why. I… found Suu in the bathroom today and I had to leave her alone for a bit, so to give her something to do and make sure she had water, I made an ice crystal, but I used my heart to reinforce it. I think I may have put some of my memories into it unintentionally.”<br/>“How many memories?”<br/>“Keyblade!”<br/>“... That answer your question?”<br/>“Yeah, that’s not… good.” Terra said as he stood back up with Ven’s help. “But, honestly, I don’t think there’s much danger in it. Certainly not as much as what you’re asking for, Sora.”<br/>“So, there is a way to look into someone’s heart without it being asleep?”<br/>Terra sighed a bit. “Yes. It’s called Heart Walking. It’s similar to the power of waking or Dream Walking, which is what you did for your Mark of Mastery test. It’s… very dangerous. If at anytime while you’re in someone elses heart you lose sight of yourself, you’ll cease to exist, swept under their consciousness. It’s kind of how Roxas, Xion, and Ven existed with you. The Roxas and Xion of our time are gone. They’re never coming back because they lost sight of themselves. The Roxas and Xion that are training at Master Yen Sid’s are a Roxas and Xion from the past, placed in replica vessels.<br/>If you tried to Heart Walk without one of us, me, Aqua, Mickey, or Yen Sid, there to pull you out, we could lose you forever. Even Riku hasn’t attempted it and we’ve been teaching him since you left.”<br/>“... Okay, wow, I didn’t realize what I was asking. But, if the Roxas and Xion I knew back then are gone, how come Ven isn’t?”<br/>“I walled myself off in your heart. I also had your permission to be there. Roxas was your Nobody and Xion was a copy of him. They returned to your heart because it was their origin point.” Ven answered.<br/>“The bottom line, Sora, is that Suu may know everything or just a bit, but as long as it’s just her, you should be fine.” Aqua said. “But, if you’re that worried, I’m sure me or Terra can come to you and teach you the spell.” Terra looked almost shocked at Aqua. “What? He’s a Keyblade Master now, he has a right to know.”<br/>“How come I didn’t know about Heart Walking until now?” Ven asked.<br/>“Train. Now.” Terra and Aqua said at the same time.<br/>“Oh, come on!” Ventus exclaimed, huffing as he walked back out to the courtyard.<br/>“Anyway, Sora, if you want to know the spell, one of us can be out there soon to start teaching it to you.” Aqua said.<br/>“Thanks, but this time, I think I’m gonna let things lie. If you could send me some of the info on it, that would be cool, but for now, I think I’m just gonna mull it all over.”<br/>“I understand, but why this sudden disinterest in our craft?” She asked as Ven started going through the motions of his warm-ups.<br/>“It’s not disinterest, it’s just… If it weren’t for the Keyblade, if it weren’t for Kingdom Hearts, I’d be back home. Kairi and Riku would be there, going to school, arguing and telling me I’m being dumb. I don’t know, maybe I just wanna distance myself from it for a bit while I’m in this world looking for Kairi.” he said.<br/>Aqua smiled softly. “I can understand that. Better than you think.” Terra put a hand on her shoulder and she grasped it gently.<br/>“Hey, Aqua. A bit of advice?” She titled her head a bit. “Pay Even in Radiant Garden a visit. Tell him a bit about… things. Who knows? He might be more help than you think.” The screen blinked out as Aqua was about to ask what he was talking about, looking up at Terra with a confused look on her face.<br/>The muscular man shrugged. He had no idea, but he’d help if he could. “Ven! Get in your armor, we’re headed to Radiant Garden! You can see Lea and Isa!”<br/>“Whoo! About time!” The blonde tossed his Keyblade into the air and it transformed into his glider as his armor materialized. He hopped on and opened the Lanes Between, cheering as he blasted through, followed closely by Aqua and Terra. He didn’t know why they were so suddenly leaving, but honestly, after being cooped up so long, he didn’t care.<br/>…<br/>Sora sighed a bit as he pulled his phone away from his head, setting it on the table before it beeped at him. A text message? He opened it and smiled. It was Yukiko.<br/>Excited 4 school?<br/>He wasn’t the best at texting, at least he couldn’t text like Riku who could basically type you a novel with one hand and without looking at the screen, but he was decent enough.<br/>Yep! C u tomorrow?<br/>Maybe, if we have the same class. But if not, we can have lunch!<br/>Sounds good 2 me!<br/>You live with those Liminal girls and that guy from the mall, right?<br/>Sora lifted a brow in confusion as Suu watched over his shoulder. He jolted a bit as he felt her feeler on his forehead, looking at her oddly. She just smiled and did nothing more. Sora found it adorable, honestly, so he went back to texting.<br/>Yea, whats up?<br/>Be careful, its the full moon tonite. Liminals go a bit crazy around the full moon.<br/>Yeah, that’s not good. Sora thought. He texted a quick good night and then texted Aqua. He asked her to explain her chain spell to him before getting up to walk out of his room only to be pulled off his feet and dragged back by Suu. “S-Suu! I gotta go warn-” He went quiet after he turned over only to have Suu straddle his hips. She looked a bit different. She was taller now and had a much fuller figure, up-sized chest and all.<br/>Sora also noticed that the crystal was gone. She must have been consuming it while he was on the phone and grew to the amount of water given. “… I forgot, you’re a Liminal too. Suu, come on, I gotta-aaah!”<br/>His argument was silenced when Suu pulled his head between her breasts. He grunted and struggled, but he was stuck there. Kinda impressive considering he was… well, him. But one thing he couldn’t wrap his head around was something about Suu.<br/>I realize she’s made of slime, but with the coat to keep me from falling into her, she’s so soft. And… does she smell like apples? Why?<br/>He looked up at the slime and blushed at the smile on her face. It was gentle and kind, but it had an odd hunger to it. “Sora~.” She said in a singsong tone.<br/>Oh, that’s not good. He had to reach a bit, but he was able to access Ultima Weapon’s Teleportation ability, the boy dropping himself out his bedroom door. Judging by the flop and the scrambling he heard in his room, Suu didn’t have a memory of him doing that. That meant what little she did know was probably of when he first started out.<br/>Questions for later for now… He looked down the hall to Kimihito’s room and his face exploded with color. Miia was in a lace, almost see-through nightie outside of Kimihito’s room. The two of them stared at each other. “Uh…” <br/>“NOOOO, ONLY DARLING CAN SEE ME IN THIS!” Miia’s tail lashed out and slammed into the wall where Sora’s head had been. As for him, he was still in the hall, now off the floor and doing the splits to keep himself pinned between the walls.<br/>Miia slithered back to her room, crying, and slamming the door behind her. Sora was just staring at the door. “… What?!” He made sure they was no one else in the hall before dropping down. He had to get to Kimihito quick. He ran to Kimihito’s door, knocking loudly. “Kimihito, it’s Sora! Let me in!”<br/>“Sora?” Kimihito opened the door, yelping as Sora rushed in and slammed the door closed. “Hey, what’s going on?!”<br/>“The full moon! I just got a text from Yukiko about it, apparently it does something to Liminals. We gotta-” He was cut off by a body flying through the window and pinning him to the floor. He felt the unmistakable feeling of claws on his back. And it hurt.<br/>“Hubby! Have sex with me so I can lay an egg!” Papi shouted before realizing he had the wrong person pinned. “Sora? You’re not Hubby!” The boy looked up at her and his face warmed again. All she was wearing was a loose t-shirt, nothing else.<br/>“Papi, what the- WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!” Kimihito shouted.<br/>“Papi wants to make an egg with you. Papi is an adult, so you don’t need to worry!” She yelped as Sora spun her off his back, hissing a bit in pain.<br/>“Dammit, that stings.” Papi, now off Sora, launched at Kimihito and pinned him to the bed. <br/>Before Sora could do anything, the door exploded, Cerea galloping in. “Unhand my master, Papi! I am here to protect him!” The look in her eyes said anything but ‘protect’.<br/>“Sora, what did you do?!” Miia shouted as she followed the centaur in. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY DARLING!?” Miia shrieked as she saw the position Papi had Kimihito in.<br/>“Me and Hubby are making an egg! He’s mine! Go away!”<br/>“Like hell, Bird Brain! Darling is mine!”<br/>“Master will choose neither of you! He will be the father of my… of my…” Cerea’s face turned red and she began to mumble incoherently.<br/>They all started arguing and as they did, Sora inched over to the pinned Kimihito, grabbing his leg before him and his host vanished. Papi squawked as she fell onto the bed. “Hubby?!”<br/>“Where did he go!?” Cerea shouted.<br/>“FIND HIM!” Miis screeched, taking off down the hall. She’d find her Darling, no matter how long it took.<br/>Suu watched from the hall as the girls ran down the hall, shouting about Kimihito. She didn’t really get what was going on with them. She wanted her Sora back. She stepped into Kimihito’s room, looking around for the boy before she saw something. A red spot on the floor.<br/>…<br/>Both men gasped as they popped out of the water. Sora had teleported them into the bathroom. “Cold!” He shouted as he got out of the tub. “So cold.”<br/>Kimihito sputtered as he got out of the water, shaking off a bit. “H-how did you-?”<br/>“Don’t ask. Ah!” Sora shifted his hoody down. Papi’s talon dug in deeper than he thought. Two marks were on his chest, and four were on his shoulders, one in particular was closer than he’d like to his neck.<br/>Kimihito’s eyes widened. “Sora, you’re hurt!”<br/>“I’m okay. It’s not too bad, not the worst I’ve dealt with. Just a few more scars to add to the collection.” He joked before he heard Cerea’s hooves clopping over the floor.<br/>“I’m sorry, Sora. This is my fault, I’m a failure of a host.” Kimihito said as he sat down, staring at the floor.<br/>Sora rolled his eyes a bit. “Hey, this isn’t your fault. You didn’t know about the full moon.” He pat the man’s back gently. “Stay here, hide in the closet. I’m gonna see if I can calm them down. And turn off your phone.”<br/>Before the man could argue, Sora walked out the door, conjuring the Keyblade and tapping the door knob to be sure that the girls weren’t getting in there. He heard the sound of a lock and tumbler setting into place, nodding and walking down the hall. As he went, he listened to the sound of Cerea galloping upstairs until his phone chimed. The sounds stopped. “Oh shit.”<br/>He pulled out his phone. It was Aqua. She texted him back about the ‘Will Cage’. “Thank you, Aqua.”<br/>“DOWNSTAIRS!” Miia screeched. Sora ran to the living room, being cut off by a very angry looking Miia and Cerea, Papi landing behind him. He tried to turn and run after a moment of silence, shouting as he was kicked back by Cerea, knocking him to the floor. He yelped as Miia wrapped him in her coils. “Where is he?! Where did you take my Darling?!”<br/>“He’s safe, away from you three until the full moon has passed-gah!” She was starting to crush him. Now, Sora was plenty tough, but he had his limit.<br/>“He’d be safest with me, Sora! You know this!” Cerea shouted.<br/>“I just wanna have sex with Hubby!” Papi shrieked.<br/>Aaaand, something just broke. Shoulder and a rib. That’s fantastic. “Miia, will you let me go? I’m pretty sure you just dislocated my shoulder.” Sora whimpered out.<br/>“Tell me where Darling is and I’ll let you go!”<br/>“Oh, come on!” He was getting nowhere with this. Please work. He teleported out of Miia’s grip, conjuring the Keyblade. “Sorry, girls.” The end of his weapon began to glow as the girls turned to him. He lifted and swung down, the light exploding out and forming into chains. The light blinded the girls for a moment before they realized they were bound.<br/>“H-hey! What did you-!?” Miia started.<br/>“Sleep!” Sora lifted the Keyblade and cast his spell, the girls immediately passing out. He dropped the Keyblade and landed on his ass. His shoulders were killing him. He reached up to rub them and stopped. He pulled his hand back and saw that the ends of his fingers were coated in a thick sheet of his blood. Papi’s talons did more damage than he thought. Then again, she had, like, eight inch talons, if not larger.<br/>After tying up the girls, he didn’t have any mana left to heal himself. He was just gonna have to wait and hope he didn’t bleed out. He wasn’t losing that much blood, but it still had him a bit worried.<br/>“Sora.” He froze again, slowly turning back around to see Suu standing there. That odd hunger she had was gone, replaced with confusion and a bit of concern.<br/>“Hey, Suu. I’m okay, I promise. Listen, I gotta get Kimihito outta the… Bathroom.” And down he went, hitting the floor hard.<br/>Suu looked down at Sora oddly, kneeling down beside him. She gently brushed his hair, careful not to get it too slimy. Then she looked at the girls. She didn’t know what was happening, but she knew Sora was in trouble. She nodded her head with determination, extending her arm to the sink and switching on the water. She plugged the faucet with her hand and let the water flow before spraying the now freed women with it.<br/>Miia screamed as she tried to slither away from the water. “COLD!”<br/>“WHAT’S HAPPENING!?” Cerea shouted, scrambling to her hooves.<br/>“AHHH! PAPI CAN’T FLY IF SHE’S WET!” The harpy shouted ass he wrapped herself in her wings, shivering.<br/>Miia turned towards Suu, who stopped spraying them. “SUU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? I’M A POLKITHERM! I CAN’T HANDLE THE COLD!”<br/>“Sora.” The slime said simply. The lamia was about to start screaming again when she noticed the smell of blood in the air.<br/>She looked down and gasped, backing away on reflex. “Oh my god! Sora!” She lifted the unconscious boy up enough to put his head in her lap. “Suu, what happened to him?! He’s bleeding!”<br/>Suu just shook her head, continuing to pet Sora’s head as the other two finally noticed what was going on. “Sora?” Papi asked as she knelt by the boy. “Sora? Why is Sora sleeping in the living room?” She didn’t seem to quite understand anything that was happening.<br/>“He’s not sleeping, Papi.” Cerea said as she knelt down as well. “Miia, we need to call Smith, he’s very badly hurt.” That’s when the Centaur noticed something. She gently lifted his shoulder. “Papi, are these… These are talon marks!” She lifted the boys shirt. “Snake tracks.” She said, pointing out the forming bruises on Sora’s torso.<br/>“Wait, are you saying we did this?” Miia noticed something, two bruises even darker than the ones she gave. “Um, Cerea, look at these. Hoof marks.” The blonde centaur’s eyes widened. “This is awful. I told him we’d keep him safe, and here we are, losing our minds and beating him. Sora, I’m so sorry.” The lamia started to cry as it finally clicked for Papi.<br/>“Hubby! Hubby can help Sora! Where’s Hubby!?”<br/>“Bathroom!” Suu parroted. The other two’s heads snapped up. After a second, Miia passed Sora to Suu and took off down the hall to the bathroom, trying and failing to open the door, so she instead started pounding on it.<br/>“Darling! Darling! Call Smith, Sora’s hurt really bad! He needs a doctor!”<br/>“What?! What did you do?!” She heard him shout. She began to break down, being held by the Centaur as Papi broke down as well. The hall was filled with the sounds of sobbing women as Kimihito made one of the toughest calls he’s ever had to make.<br/>…<br/>Sora groaned gently. His head was killing him. He started to sit up, groaning louder. “Owwww….”<br/>“Well, look who’s up.” He looked to his side. He was in his room, on his bed, and Smith was there.<br/>“Smith? When did you get here?” He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. He then noticed his chest was fully wrapped in gauze. “What happened?”<br/>“The full moon. I should have said something before now. This is my fault, I’m sorry, Sora.” She said quietly. “I got here about an hour ago. You’re very lucky I got the call when I did. Darling is stuck in the bathroom, we can’t get him out and none of the girls know first aid.”<br/>“What time is it?” He had school today.<br/>“There’s no way you’re going to school today. Not with those injuries. Sora, you had a dislocated shoulder, several broken ribs, and puncture marks on your chest and back.”<br/>“I’ll heal them! How do you think I got the girls to calm down before they did any real damage to someone important? Sleep spell.”<br/>“After you wrapped them in magic chains.”<br/>“I just wanted to make sure they didn’t get away before I cast the spell. I didn’t… hurt them did I?”<br/>Smith smiled and shook her head. “You and Darling are the only two men I’ve ever met that are more worried about the people that hurt you than you are about yourselves. No, you didn’t hurt them. I’ve got your clothes being washed. You lost a lot of blood. You really should be in a hospital, but I know you’re the stubborn type.”<br/>He sighed gently and leaned his head back. “Good. At least they’re okay. Now, help me out of bed. I gotta let Kimihito out.” Smith didn’t argue, happy to see Sora was okay. She simply helped the boy to his feet. When they got downstairs, Sora smiled softly at the crying girls. They all apologized profusely, but were quieted by Sora’s smile. It was as big and kind as ever. “Now, back up.” <br/>They all backed away from Sora as he lifted his arms. The Keyblade flashed into his hand and with a flourish, he tapped the knob. The sound of a lock disengaging filled the quiet hallway. The door opened slowly and Kimihito poked his head out.<br/>“Morning, Darling.” Smith said with a smile. He opened the door fully and looked at the girls, his hands on his hips.<br/>“You three will be turning in early on the next full moon. What was the matter with you?! Sora nearly- Ow!” Kimihito held the top of his head as Sora whapped him.<br/>“They feel bad enough, Kimihito. Don’t make it worse.”<br/>Kimihito sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay.” He looked back at the girls, a bit ashamed of how they all shrank away. “I’m sorry. This is between you three and Sora.” He hugged them all gently, his arms wrapped around Miia and Cerea with Papi nestled into his chest. “I’m sorry. I’ll make this right.”<br/>Sora chuckled as the girls cried into Kimihito’s arms. He found it odd that he blamed himself for this, but he wasn’t going to argue. He turned and started to walk away, the Keyblade blinking from existence.<br/>“And where are you going?” Smith asked.<br/>He turned back to her and smiled. “I’m gonna make breakfast. I’ve school today. I’m guessing it’s like… what, three AM?”<br/>“Sora I told you-”<br/>“Heal!” A green light encompassed Sora for a moment and he flexed his arms a bit. “Ah, that feels better.” He tore off his wrappings, leaving his scarred torso on display, but it luckily had no open wounds.<br/>The girls and Kimihito just stared in shock as Smith sighed a bit. “Oh yeah, I can do magic. Now, who’s hungry?” He turned and started for the kitchen only to be bulldozed by the now smaller Suu.<br/>“Sora!” she shouted, burying her face in his chest.<br/>“... Okay, I’m not going to school today. Suu might lose it if I leave now.”<br/>Everyone started to laugh at that. Sure, that night was hell for all of them, but they got through. There were questions to be asked, answers to be given, but for now, breakfast.</p>
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